Beamer wrote on Oct 10, 2012, 11:11:If you just want to put footage on YouTube and give tips, collecting money from YouTube's ads, then you can do that.

First sentence in that article:

Microsoft is tired of people earning money on YouTube clips of its games, so the company has decided to change the rules a bit

It is not very clear what do they consider videos that earns you money.

None of this is new. That language was always in their content usage rules and it's not just Microsoft that has those rules. If you want to post your Halo content out to YouTube, you're fine. Even if you do it on Google's partner program (thereby theoretically earning a little money from it), still fine. But if you want to start some major gaming channel to rival Machinima or Rooster Teeth then Microsoft would like to talk to you about a commercial license (which both those channels have with all the major players). So basically if you are trying to make a living from posting game videos you either need a commercial license or you need to partner up with someone who has one and be covered by theirs. That being said I doubt Microsoft is wasting the time of lawyers making them scour Youtube for violators and unless your channel becomes hugely popular (and, hopefully for you, profitable) I doubt you'll end up on their radar.

Thank you folks for your feedback I was leading towards XCOM based on what folks were saying yesterday as it was, so this just kind of firmed it up. I still think I will have fun with BL2, but a GOTY budget version level of fun.

As for Dishonored, this wasn't a game I was super hyped for. It falls into that category of "a game I will buy because it is a quality game". I don't know if any of you do this as well but because I tend to like just about every genre to some degree, if a game receives high critical praise from users, I tend to buy it. For example, shooters. Honestly, my interest in shooters ended with the Quake and Unreal franchises. Military shooters just haven't been my thing. Some of it is because a great many of them are exactly the same product from the year before, some of it is the removal of features like private servers and offline bots, and some of it is the online community. Even if all of that fell in line, I still think I would be burned out on green camo killing blue camo over and over again. That said, a shooter that takes the genre and does something different will interest me, and it sounds like Dishonored does just that. Still, I only have so much game time in a day so choices have to be made....and ultimately turn based strategy trumps FPS any day.

BL2 is good too, though it's one of those games that half way through I was just waiting for it to be over. It started to feel really grindy about 3/4th of the way through.

That's the exact point I'm at now. I really like it, and I want to see the end, but it's starting to feel a bit too repetitive. I hate to say this, but it almost feels like there's too many sidequests - yet I feel compelled to do them to level and hopefully make the story missions easier to accomplish.

Jivaro wrote on Oct 10, 2012, 13:48:edit: Verno...I am playing TL2 and GW2 a lot, and enjoying them. I haven't picked up BL2 or XCOM yet. Borderlands was "meh" to me, mainly because I found the inventory system infuriating, I actually liked many other aspects of the game. I was a huge fan of the first 2 XCOM games, not so much a fan of any since then. So...in your opinion...BL2 or XCOM next? I will be buying both, the question is which one gets bought on a Steam sale or in a GOTY bundle.

I'd say XCOM. Dishonored is pretty great too BTW. XCOM is one of those games you can pick up and play obsessively or just fit in a game here and there. BL2 is a big time commitment, like 30-40ish hours if you don't do a lot of the time padding stuff. The inventory system in BL2 is a bit of a scroll happy downgrade surprisingly, though other aspects of the UI have been relatively improved. Plus if you wait awhile you can probably just get BL2 cheap with some DLC that will fix some of the games major annoyances.

The inventory system got worse?! Fuck that. Decision made. Thanks! As for Dishonored, I have watched some gameplay videos, and it does indeed look fun, but my backlog is huge. It looks good enough to play, but not good enough to jump ahead of my backlog. Most likely getting that one on sale as well.

From someone who picked up all 3, I'm enjoying Xcom more. Granted I've only played Dishonored for about an hour or so, tough to really judge it, I think it's going to be alot of fun but it feels pretty samey to most fps games out there, although I give it major major props for having so many different ways to tackle objectives. That's great. It's like a cross between Dues Ex and Bioshock in how it feels imo.

BL2 is good too, though it's one of those games that half way through I was just waiting for it to be over. It started to feel really grindy about 3/4th of the way through.

I was just pointing out that what you were suggesting and the very first sentence of the article were conflicting. I love it how you jump into conclusions.

I did read the article and my comment regarding how it is unclear what they consider videos that earns you money was about this:

(“Rules”), Microsoft grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use and display Game Content and to create derivative works based upon Game Content, strictly for your noncommercial and personal use.

Obviously they will not block people from creating and uploading youtube gameplay videos even though the "rules" are suggesting that but it will be interesting to see how this will change things like GinatBomb premium memberships where you actually have to pay a membership fee to see guys playing video games.

Beamer wrote on Oct 10, 2012, 11:11:If you just want to put footage on YouTube and give tips, collecting money from YouTube's ads, then you can do that.

First sentence in that article:

Microsoft is tired of people earning money on YouTube clips of its games, so the company has decided to change the rules a bit

It is not very clear what do they consider videos that earns you money.

I literally just sighed. Honestly. That's kind of funny, right?

You only read the first sentence, then, and missed this:Update: Microsoft representatives have responded to our inquiries, and assure us that these new rules will not have any affect on the games media. Additionally, they pointed me toward an official post in the Halo forums that clarifies a few points raised by the new Game Content Usage Rules. It’s a good read, especially if the above text has made you wary of the company’s new guidelines.

Again, it's everyone assuming Microsoft is stupid. Microsoft WANTS you to put a billion videos on YouTube - it's great marketing. They do not want you to make a movie and charge for it, or make a pay site where you charge for viewing. They do not care about free YouTube videos that generate revenue for you.

Jivaro wrote on Oct 10, 2012, 13:48:edit: Verno...I am playing TL2 and GW2 a lot, and enjoying them. I haven't picked up BL2 or XCOM yet. Borderlands was "meh" to me, mainly because I found the inventory system infuriating, I actually liked many other aspects of the game. I was a huge fan of the first 2 XCOM games, not so much a fan of any since then. So...in your opinion...BL2 or XCOM next? I will be buying both, the question is which one gets bought on a Steam sale or in a GOTY bundle.

I'd say XCOM. Dishonored is pretty great too BTW. XCOM is one of those games you can pick up and play obsessively or just fit in a game here and there. BL2 is a big time commitment, like 30-40ish hours if you don't do a lot of the time padding stuff. The inventory system in BL2 is a bit of a scroll happy downgrade surprisingly, though other aspects of the UI have been relatively improved. Plus if you wait awhile you can probably just get BL2 cheap with some DLC that will fix some of the games major annoyances.

The inventory system got worse?! Fuck that. Decision made. Thanks! As for Dishonored, I have watched some gameplay videos, and it does indeed look fun, but my backlog is huge. It looks good enough to play, but not good enough to jump ahead of my backlog. Most likely getting that one on sale as well.

Jivaro wrote on Oct 10, 2012, 13:48:edit: Verno...I am playing TL2 and GW2 a lot, and enjoying them. I haven't picked up BL2 or XCOM yet. Borderlands was "meh" to me, mainly because I found the inventory system infuriating, I actually liked many other aspects of the game. I was a huge fan of the first 2 XCOM games, not so much a fan of any since then. So...in your opinion...BL2 or XCOM next? I will be buying both, the question is which one gets bought on a Steam sale or in a GOTY bundle.

I'd say XCOM. Dishonored is pretty great too BTW. XCOM is one of those games you can pick up and play obsessively or just fit in a game here and there. BL2 is a big time commitment, like 30-40ish hours if you don't do a lot of the time padding stuff. The inventory system in BL2 is a bit of a scroll happy downgrade surprisingly, though other aspects of the UI have been relatively improved. Plus if you wait awhile you can probably just get BL2 cheap with some DLC that will fix some of the games major annoyances.

Verno wrote on Oct 10, 2012, 11:28:Completely indefensible bullshit. That is incredibly stupid and will just hurt them in the long run. Anyone who gets burned by that will be one less fan and fewer eyeballs will be on the franchise in the future. You would think a company wouldn't argue with free advertising considering how expensive it is these days but Microsoft is apparently that short sighted.

I like Nintendo's angle: The fans sustain the brand and increase it's strength. Plus, it is cheaper to let them run wild then it is to hire and maintain an army of lawyers to police the internet.

Back in the day I remember Fox destroying an Alien mod for one of the Quake games....and I just couldn't understand why they would do that when Nintendo let a similar mod set in Mario World go just fine. Now I see this from Microsoft, and I just don't get it. It seems like whatever the upside is must be beyond my limited comprehension.

edit: Verno...I am playing TL2 and GW2 a lot, and enjoying them. I haven't picked up BL2 or XCOM yet. Borderlands was "meh" to me, mainly because I found the inventory system infuriating, I actually liked many other aspects of the game. I was a huge fan of the first 2 XCOM games, not so much a fan of any since then. So...in your opinion...BL2 or XCOM next? I will be buying both, the question is which one gets bought on a Steam sale or in a GOTY bundle.

Completely indefensible bullshit. That is incredibly stupid and will just hurt them in the long run. Anyone who gets burned by that will be one less fan and fewer eyeballs will be on the franchise in the future. You would think a company wouldn't argue with free advertising considering how expensive it is these days but Microsoft is apparently that short sighted.

deqer wrote on Oct 10, 2012, 11:03:So, if I spend my time and money on video recording something using my equipment, I cannot charge for my troubles because Microsoft said so? Okay.

They have commercial agreements if you want to do something commercial, like make a major motion picture out of a modified Halo level.

You didn't build that, they built that.

If you just want to put footage on YouTube and give tips, collecting money from YouTube's ads, then you can do that.

Alternate response to you: "so, if I spend my time and money on a color scanner and printer and scan and print using my equipment, I cannot scan and sell Richard Scary books just because Golden Books says so? Ok."